


A Shield Without A King

by Selador



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, End of the World, Gen, Iris Amicitia-Centered, Iris Deserved Better, POV Minor Character, World of Ruin, this game treats female characters terribly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 14:30:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12773031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selador/pseuds/Selador
Summary: "Iris knows her father is dead long before Cor returns to the Citadel to find the bodies.If the King is dead, his Shield must be too."A reflection on Iris, her character, and what it means to be a Shield.





	A Shield Without A King

Iris knows her father is dead long before Cor returns to the Citadel to find the bodies.

When the news--run by the Empire, paid for by the Empire, controlled by the Empire--announces that the King was dead, she doesn’t need confirmation more than that. 

If the King is dead, his Shield must be too.

She cries. She cries harder when she hears Noctis is dead, because if the King is dead, his Shield must be too, and she’s lost everything, like so many others, in less than a day. 

…

Iris begs Cor not to go back to the Citadel. They need him, she doesn’t want to lose her uncle, and she doesn’t want to know exactly how her father died.

Cor doesn’t listen to her, just like he never listened to her father, but when he comes back, there’s a wrath that’s settled in his bones. Iris isn’t surprised when he leaves her in Lestallum with Jared and Talcott, instead of training her like he promised.

Iris tries not to be angry at him--Cor just lost his friends, his brothers, and unlike her, he  _ can _ actually go out and fight, and they need fighters right  _ now _ , but she hates Lestallum, and Jared, and even Talcott a little bit.

She forgives Cor, not by much though, when he calls her to tell her, “The Prince and your brother are alive.”

She cries again, but this time it’s good tears.

…

Her brother is easy to follow on the news, especially once Meldacio Hunter HQ begins to claim the Prince and his guards as hunters. It gives them partial credit, but it also provides a cover for them.

And it lets Iris know if her brother is alive, so Iris forgives them. 

Prince Noctis-- _ King  _ Noctis, really--makes it to Lestallum, and they visit her and Jared and Talcott. It’s easy to fall back onto her crush on him, to focus on that than anything else that is happening. She thinks she’s embarrassing herself--knows she is--but Noctis spends the day with her, listening to her talk on and on about this city that is now her new home, and smiles at her. 

But they leave again, and this time, they go to win the favor of the gods, and the Empire kills Jared. 

Iris escapes with Talcott, while Jared distracts them. They hear him scream and Talcott’s crying and  _ isn’t running fast enough _ , but Iris is a Shield without a King, and she picks him up and keeps running.

They hide in the slums of Lestallum, between the mechanical gears and the power grids, and Iris calls Cor. He rushes into Lestallum like a hero, cutting down MTs, but he’s a hero too late. 

He gets them to Cape Caem, where some of his Crownsguard have made base, to keep them protected. Cid, who Iris met briefly in that foggy, grief-stricken time of their initial escape from Insomnia, stays with them. He’s smelly and old and complains a lot, but he teaches her how to fix up a car. And when she expresses interest, how to make weapons too.

She likes Cid. 

Noctis shows up, and she sees Gladio again, but they leave for Altissia right away. There’s radio silence from them for several days, and then--

And then Leviathan destroys Altissia. 

Noctis doesn’t die. (Lunafreya does, but--her brother isn’t  _ her _ Shield.) No one ever reports on his companions, but as long as Noctis isn’t dead, she has hope for her brother.

...

The situation gets… bad. The days get shorter. More hunters come by their base, needing medical attention, because the daemons and monsters are getting stronger.

The last Iris heard of her brother, he was going straight into the Empire.

Iris doesn’t pray. She doesn’t think it worthwhile, not when the gods are so obviously real and indifferent to them. 

She does call Cor every day, pleading him to train her. And eventually, he shows up and does. 

It’s hard, and he’s never there for long, handing her off to one of his Crownsguard to train while he’s off doing things that are actually important. But she improves, and improves enough that a couple of the Crownsguard let her join a very, very easy hunting mission.

It goes… great, actually. Iris has trained plenty and fought plenty, with her father, her brother, and Crownsguard, but nothing was so exhilarating as an actual  _ hunt _ . She’s supposed to stay back, to watch, to hit only when opportunity presents itself, but she lifts her sword and cleaves the monster in two and thinks,  _ I was meant for this _ .

Despite her success, she’s only allowed to go on the easy ones. Iris is too young, Monica says, when she asks.

That changes when the sun stops rising.

…

They have lights for the night time, but they’re not meant for unending usage. Once they realize that the  _ sun just isn’t coming back _ , they abandon Cape Caem to go back to Lestallum, which at least has the power plant. 

Iris rallies to join the patrols, and Cid shuts her down. Cid’s the default grown up responsible for her still, so Iris corners Cor when he comes back.

“I can hunt! Let me come with you!” Iris pleads. She’s almost crying. There’s been no news about Noctis or--or anyone yet, and so many people keep dying, and she still hates Lestallum, and she’s constantly on the verge of tears.

Cor’s gaze is impassive and unwavering, and maybe also a little sad. “I’m not sending a fifteen year old girl out to fight monsters, Iris.”

“ _ You _ were my age when you became the King’s bodyguard! You’re such a  _ hypocrite _ !” Iris accuses.

Cor sighs. “Yes, I was. But, Iris--you shouldn’t have to.”

“ _ Stop trying to protect me! _ ” Iris yells. And on top of it all, she really starts sobbing now. “It’s not  _ working _ , and we’ve lost  _ everything _ , and Gladio’s probably  _ dead _ somewhere in Niflheim and a  _ daemon _ , and the  _ world is ending _ ! I do have to!”

Iris has never seen Cor look so miserable before. “You’re right. But Iris--I can’t train you and bring you onto missions and--if you die,” he says, “I would never forgive myself for letting my best friend’s daughter die.”

“Gladio’s out there and probably already dead,” Iris accuses. She keeps it together just enough to bite back the,  _ You let  _ him _ die _ . Even angry, she knows that would be  _ too much _ . She can’t say that to Cor. “You didn’t seem too worried about  _ him _ . Is it so different than I’m a  _ girl _ ?”

Cor doesn’t say it is, but the answer is obvious. Clarus’ son was always the scion of the Amicitia line, the one who would be taken seriously, trained seriously, and given the honor of carrying the duty of the Amicitia family.

Iris is the spare. If she had been a boy, they might have taken her training seriously too, at the very least, but as a girl… the idea that she might want to take own the duty of the Amicitia line and carry its honor on her shoulders never crossed anyone’s mind.

Cor sighs. “Fine. I’ll train you. But you only go out on missions when I say so, and that I supervise. And no unnecessary risks--we need hunters, but we need them to stay  _ alive _ , or they’re useless to us. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Iris said, wiping her tears away. “I understand.”

Iris has always been a Shield without a King, but who needs a King, when you have a Kingdom to protect?

…

Gladio’s not dead, but it’s not clear if Noctis is. 

“He’s not dead,” Gladio repeats. “He just got--eaten by the crystal to fight Bahamut, or something. He’ll come back.”

“Are you sure?” Cor demands. “When will he come back?”

“No,” Gladio admits, voice breaking. Iris’ heart lies heavy in her chest--if Gladio is wrong, and the King is dead, but the Shield is not, then Gladio failed. “I don’t know.”

“Then we have to proceed as if he won’t. We have to secure supplies. Power,” Cor says. 

“Of course,” Ignis says, who’s  _ blind _ now. “I’ll begin organizing our efforts.”

It quickly devolves into a conversation that has no place for Iris. In this room, she’s not a budding hunter, she’s just someone’s daughter and someone’s sister.

She leaves, and goes to find the hunters. She knows how they were organized before the endless night--maybe she can start them off by helping out with that group.

…

Years go by. Iris only knows her brother is alive when he shows up, and later, when they have cell service again, when he calls. 

And it only takes a year into the Unending Night for Iris to go off on missions without supervision, with teams of her own. Gladio reacts poorly to this, fretting and checking in on her. He goes on as many missions with her as possible, but it’s wasteful to send them on missions together. They’re both leaders--they need teams. Not each other.

It’s not that Gladio isn’t proud of her. She know she is. But he hates that she has to, like this. 

But they don’t have a choice. Iris keeps going on missions, and she doesn’t die, so she keeps going on more. They need her, too. 

They need everybody they have.

They’re both Shields without Kings, now. Protecting the people is the least they can do.

...

It’s ten years before the dawn comes and the sun rises.

Ten years before Noctis returns to save the world.

Ten years, and Iris sleeps through the end of the apocalypse. She wakes up with the sun in her eyes, turning around to sleep more, before she shoots up in alarm. There are lights everywhere in Lestallum, of course, but none that shine through her window. 

The sun is out. And shining. And beautiful.

Iris sticks her head out the window, and there’s noise all around. People cheering, sobbing, celebrating. 

She pulls out her phone, and calls her brother.

It doesn’t even ring. She calls Ignis.

It doesn’t ring.

Prompto.

Nothing.

She calls Talcott, who tells her, “ _ He came back! He’s finally back! _ ”

“Where did they go?” Iris demands, pulling on her gear and getting her go bag.

“ _ They went to Insomnia _ ,” Talcott says, “ _ To finish this _ .”

“When did they go?” Iris demands. “When did Noctis come back? Talcott,  _ why didn’t you call me _ ?”

“ _ A couple nights ago, I found him by Galdin _ ,” he says, unsure. “ _ I let the others know, and they just took off soon after they got to Hammerhead _ .”

“You should have  _ fucking _ called me!” Iris yells into the phone. “They’re not answering their phones! They’re probably all  _ dead _ , Talcott!” There’s no reason to think why they would all be dead. Whatever they need to do to bring back the sun, maybe they survived. Iris tells herself this, and doesn’t believe a word of it. “ _ And I should have been there _ !”

“ _ But, Iris-- _ ”

“I’m also a Shield, Talcott,  _ it’s my duty _ !” She yells into the phone, furious and shaking. It’s been ten years since she was fifteen and couldn’t stop crying, and she doesn’t cry now. She gets to her motorcycle. 

“ _ I’m sorry, Iris, I didn’t--I don’t think Gladio would have let you come _ .”

“That wouldn't have stopped me,” she says and ends the call. 

She drives off to Insomnia. The sunlight is bright, and it hurts her eyes after all these years. She doesn’t have sunglasses, anymore. No one does. 

All of their phones were dead. The sun is out and so bright and Iris can’t imagine that Noctis is still alive. Can’t imagine that the sun came back without a high price.

If the King is dead, his Shield must be too. 

Iris goes faster. She knows what she’s going to find. What Cor found all those years ago. 

She goes faster. 

**Author's Note:**

> i imagine that cor isn't trying to be an asshole, it's more than his companions have a bad track record of ending up dead


End file.
